Curing blanket and machine

ABSTRACT

A flexible concrete curing blanket of indefinite length is provided with tubes along its sides. The tubes are filled with water to weight and thus hold the blanket down. A self-propelled machine lays the blanket down on top of freshly poured concrete, the machine takes the blanket up when the concrete has cured.

Unite States i atem [72] Inventor [21 Appl. No. [22] Filed [45] Patented Sept. 14, 1971 [54] CURING BLANKET AND MACHENE 5 Claims, 5 Drawing 1 I52] US. Cl 94/39, 2511,264/101, 273/27 [51] Int. 1 Ellie 23/03; [50] Field of Search 25/1 F; 264/79,10l;94/39, 22; 61/1; 135/5; 273/27 [56] Refe Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,654,422 12/1927 Laggren 135/5 2,554,688 5/1951 Vollweiler 135/5 2,848,233 8/1958 Wynn 135/5 X 2,908,141 10/1959 Marsh 61/46.5 X 1,946,819 2/ 1934 Stevenson 94/39 1,965,111 7/1934 Angier.... 25/1 2,046,867 7/1936 Billner 264/101 Primary Examiner-Jacob L. Nackenoff Attorney-Stowe" & Stowell ABSACT: A flexible concrete curing blanket of indefinite length is provided with tubes along its sides. The tubes are filled with water to weight and thus hold the blanket down. A self-propelled machine lays the blanket down on top of freshly poured concrete, the machine takes the blanket up when the concrete has cured.

PATENTED SEP] 4 1971 SHEET 1 OF 4 INVENTOR WILLIAM F MIDDLESTADT M wa e" ATTORNEYS PATENTED SEPX 41% sum 2 [1F 4 INVENTOR WILLIAM F MiDDLESTADT jfimfl ATTORNEYS PATENTEDSEPMIQ?! 3504,32 4

SHEET 3 0F 4 INVENTOR WILLIAM F MIDDLESTADT ATTO RN EYS PATENTEU SEPI 41911 3; 604 324 sum u 8F 4 INV ENTOR WILL AM F.

\IIIDDLESTADT ATTORNEYS CURING BLANKET AND MACHINE This invention relates to an imperforate holddown cover especially useful for curing concrete and more particularly to an elongated plastic cover having means disposed along its side edges for weighting the cover to thereby retain it in position over a mass of concrete which is curing.

The invention also relates to a machine for laying a holddown cover of indefinite length along, for example, a concrete strip which is being cured and which will serve as a road or roadbed. By virtue of certain characteristics of its construction, the machine may also be employed for removing the cover.

It is known in the construction arts to cover concrete which is curing and which is exposed to the atmosphere. The purpose of such covering is to prevent too rapid a loss of moisture. In this art it is often the practice to cover concrete while it is curing with cloth or other sheet material and retain the covering in place by bricks or other heavy objects placed on the concrete itself. Frequently, gusts of wind will lift or displace at least portions of the cover, thus permitting the concrete at such exposed portions to lose moisture at too rapid a rate.

According to the present invention, the above and other defects are overcome by the provision of a plastic cover of generally indefinite length provided with a hem at its side or longitudinal edges. Each hem defines a tube or closed elongated chamber which is adapted to be filled with water, although in practice a separate tube is inserted into the elongated volume to define the chamber. The ends of the chamber are then suitably clamped closed to maintain the water in place within the tube. The elongated plastic cover is thus weighted at each side edge and, being of appropriate width, hangs down over the side of the concrete mass being cured so as to thereby retain the moisture in the concrete as desired. After use, the water in each tube is released, thereby enabling the plastic sheets to be reused.

According to the further practice of the invention, concrete masses of indefinite length may easily be protected by a plastic cover by virtue of a certain laying and smoothing machine, the machine further functioning to take up the plastic cover at the conclusion of the curing time. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a slide elevational view, partially schematic, illustrating the machine of this invention used for laying a plastic cover;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a concrete mass, such as commonly used to form a road, while it is being cured and protected from excessive loss of moisture by the plastic cover of invention;

FIG. 3 is a detail view, in partial cross section showing certain details of construction of the machine of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4, and showing an alternative form of wheel support.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral denotes generally a self-propelled machine which lays an imperforate membrane along and on top of concrete masses of indefinite length. The numeral 12 denotes generally a rectangular frame upon which various members or elements which are to be described are mounted. The numeral 14 denotes wheels, similar to freight car wheels, upon which the device is movably supported. The numeral 16 denotes the top flange, similar in configuration to that of a common rail, of a rail element 18. As illustrated at FIG. 2 of the drawings, the base portion of the rails rests on the ground. The rails 18 support a concrete pouring machine as it travels (all as well known in the art) and deposits a layer 20 of concrete.

The numeral 22 denotes a supply roll of plastic which pays out to form a strip 24 of imperforate plastic of indefinite length. Each longitudinal edge of the plastic strip is provided with a hem, the hem in turn defining a hollow seam 26. In practice, the seam 26 may be formed by folding back upon itself a portion of the plastic web or sheeting. A tube 26', preferably of plastic or the like, is inserted into the seam. Each tube 26' is adapted to be filled with water, generally available at construction sites, in order to weigh down the plastic sheeting, all as readily visualized by reference to FIG. 2 of the drawings. The width of the web is such that the filled tubes 26' rest on the ground.

at The numerals 28 and 30 denote elongated rollers, mounted at their ends in bearings, and-upon which the web 24 rests one of the axles upon which the wheels 14 are mounted. A

hand brake is actuated by a wheel 44 to maintain the device positioned while various adjustments and installations are taking place. The supply spool 22 is unwound at a predetermined rate by motor 36 acting through coupling belt and pulley arrangement 46. In general, motor 36 may be internally pro-.

vided with suitable gear reduction mechanism so that its out put will slowly turn the supply spool counterclockwise as thedevice moves from right to left. It will be understood that motor 36 is reversible, for reasons which will presently appear,

as when the machine is run from left to right. The plastic sheeting 24 passes between two elongated and rotary brush members 48 and 50, rotatable generally in opposite directions,

and driven by motor 38. The rotary brushes are "coupled together by means of a belt indicated by the number 52.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings",

the numeral 54 denotes a housing for dual pumps or any other mechanism for reversing the fiow direction of air. When energized in one manner, mechanism 54 operates so that air is exuded from the nozzle 56 and in another manner the fiow direction is reversed and the snout 56 acts as a suction device.

It will be observed, particularly with respect to FIG. I of the' drawings, that the tip of the snout 56 is contiguous to thes'ur face of the concrete mass 20 and also to the sheet 24, i.e.; t

their nip.

The numeral 60 denotes generally a forwardly extending bracket, adapted to be secured on an edge portion of the movable frame 12. The bracket is adapted to carry'a downwardly extending brush 62 whose lower portion is adapted to lightly contact the top of the plastic film 24 when the latter lies on top of the concrete mass 20.

In operation of the machine, the generator 32 feeds the various motors which have previously been described. Motor 34 is energized and through clutch element 42 the chain drive connected to the left axle of FIG. 1 rotates the left wheels 14. The direction of rotation in this case is from right to left in FIG. 1. It will be understood that prior to the beginning of travel of the machine 10, the supply spool 22 has been placed on the device, with a portion of the plastic web 24 laid upon the rollers 28 and 30, passed between the brushes 48 and 50, and laid upon a portion of the concrete mass which is to be cured. The free ends of the tubes 26' are continually filled with water as the length of the film 24 laid on the concrete 20 continually increases. The motor 36 slowly turns the supply spool 22 paying out the plastic strip as the device moves from right to left. The motor 38 turns the rotary brush 48 which also rotates rotary brush 50. In this manner, any particulate material which may settle on top of the plastic film or which may have already been on the plastic film before its unwinding is cleaned off. The mechanism 54 is in operation causing a suction at the tip of snout 56 to draw air away from the wedge shaped volume immediately above the concrete mass 20 and immediately below the plastic sheet 24. This causes atmospheric pressure to urge the sheet in surface contact with the top of the concrete mass. In order to assist this smoothing action, the brush 62 also acts to push down the plastic strip. The abovedescribed action takes place as long as the supply spool 22 plays out the spool 24, or until the end of the concrete mass 20 is reached. At this time, the supply spool 22 is taken off the device and placed over the edge of the concrete 20, the water in the tubes 26' acting as above described to effectively secure and hold down the assembly.

When it is desired to remove the plastic cover after the curing process has taken place, the supply spool 22 is placed upon the shaft 23 of the machine, the plugs at the remote ends of the plastic tube 26' are removed to thereby allow the water therein to flow out. Now the motor 34 is operated in the reverse direction to thereby cause the self-propelled machine to proceed from left to right. The motor 36 also rotates in an opposite direction, here causing the supply spool 22 to rotate in a clockwise direction. The front bracket 60 with the associated brush 62 is not employed for this operation and is hence generally removed. The rotating brushes 48 and 50 again function to remove any particulate material which may have settled on the top of the plastic sheet 24, as well as to remove any particles of concrete which may adhere to the bottom or lower portion of the sheet. The blower mechanism 54 is operated in an opposite manner, here causing air to blow from the tip of snout 56 to assist in raising up sheet 24 from the top of the now cured concrete. I

It will be understood that the elongated rollers such as 28, 30, 48 and 50 are journaled in bearing elements such as shown at 29 in FIG. 4. The various electrical switches and controls for the generator have not been illustrated as they are not significant for the practice of this invention.

An embodiment is illustrated by the dashed lines of FIG. 1. There. the numeral 70 represents a curved duct, coupled to the blower 54. When laying the imperforate web, the blower forces air out of the right end of the duct 70, down onto the web to thereby assist in smoothing it. This modification may be employed in addition to or in lieu of the brush 62 and the vacuum of nozzle 56.

It will be noted that the various drives required are supplied by separate motors, this allowing the various components such as the blower and the rotating brushes to function independently of the motion of the machine. For example, the brush rotation may be varied for particular dirt conditions and for various web thicknesses as well as other web materials. Further, the rotary brush force against each other may be varied for optimum squeezing out of water in the side tubes when the machine operates to take up the web.

The showing of FIG. of the drawings illustrates the use of conventional pneumatic wheels mounted on axle members 17. The axles may be the same or different from those carrying rail wheels 14. The employment of the tires 15 may be dictated by such factors as the flexure strength of rails 18 and their upper bearing configuration, as well as the weight of the entire device 10.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for laying down and taking up flexible webs of indefinite length, said machine including,

a. a frame having wheel means,

b. said frame having means to rotate and support a web supply spool,

c. a nozzle and air energizing means therefor carried by the frame for directing air adjacent a web,

d. means carried by the frame for moving the frame along a path,

c. said nozzle having its air blowing direction parallel to a plane defined by lower surfaces of the said wheel means,

f. said nozzle having its air blowing direction the same as the intended direction of frame travel as defined by said wheel means.

2. The machine of claim 1 including,

a. an exhaust conduit having one end coupled to the said nozzle energizing means and having its other end positioned to discharge air generally downwardly, such downward discharge adapted to smooth down a web being laid by the machine.

3. The machine of claim 1 including a. means carried by said frame for brushing a web fed from a supply spool over the web surfaces, said means defined by at least one rotary brush adapted to tangentially contact a web.

4. A method of removing a generally imperforate web of indefinite length from the top surface of a hardened concrete slab, including the steps of,

a. continuously pulling a web upwardly from the top surface of a concrete slab along the length of the slab,

b. continuously blowing air at the line of separation (or contact) between web and concrete surface, as the web is being pulled.

5. A method of laying a generally imperforate web of indefinite length on the top surface of an uncured concrete slab including the steps of,

a. continuously laying down a web on the top surface of the concrete slab along the length of the slab,

b. continuously removing air from the line of separation (or contact) between web and concrete surface, as the web is being laid down. 

1. A machine for laying down and taking up flexible webs of indefinite length, said machine including, a. a frame having wheel means, b. said frame having means to rotate and support a web supply spool, c. a nozzle and air energizing means therefor carried by the frame for directing air adjacent a web, d. means carried by the frame for moving the frame along a path, e. said nozzle having its air blowing direction parallel to a plane defined by lower surfaces of the said wheel means, f. said nozzle having its air blowing direction the same as the intended direction of frame travel as defined by said wheel means.
 2. The machine of claim 1 including, a. an exhaust conduit having one end coupled to the said nozzle energizing means and having its other end positioned to discharge air generally downwardly, such downward discharge adapted to smooth down a web being laid by the machine.
 3. The machine of claim 1 including a. means carried by said frame for brushing a web fed from a supply spool over the web surfaces, said means defined by at least one rotary brush adapted to tangentially contact a web.
 4. A method of removing a generally imperforate web of indefinite length from the top surface of a hardened concrete slab, including the steps of, a. continuously pulling a web upwardly from the top surface of a concrete slab along the length of the slab, b. continuously blowing air at the line of separation (or contact) between web and concrete surface, as the web is being pulled.
 5. A method of laying a generally imperforate web of indefinite length on the top surface of an uncured concrete slab including the steps of, a. continuously laying down a web on the top surface of the concrete slab along the length of the slab, b. continuously removing air from the line of separation (or contact) between web and concrete surface, as the web is being laid down. 